September 10th, 2016
We have been a one car family for almost a year now. Living in a village with a train station has helped tremendously! Mein Mann purchased a year train/bus pass for our region for his daily commute. He has become quite familiar with riding the rails and navigating public transportation with the help of an App. on his phone. One evening, the boys and I walked to the train station to meet Daddy on his commute home. It was fun to greet him when he stepped off the train!
Though hubby is getting quite proficient at riding the train, I still feel like a newbie. I have yet to take the train by myself or with just the boys. However, back in August, I rode the train three days in a row. Since I wasn’t alone, they all felt like practice sessions but the cumulative effect was a confidence boost. Mein Mann also added the train App. to my phone which is a big help too!
One morning, Amy and I decided to venture with our boys to the Dino Park by train. We had five boys, three bikes, one scooter and a push bike/stroller. We were Super Moms in Action!
I was so proud of us when we made it to the Dino Park after catching our connecting train downtown. This was no small feat! Everyone was excited as we approached the entrance. Then, to our utter sadness, we were turned away at the gate. Turns out, you can’t take bikes into the park. What??!! No!!!!!!!!!!!! Here are the Super Moms feeling not so super anymore.
We let the boys play at a little playground nearby before we caught the next train back. On the way home, we misread where to catch our connection and had the crazy adventure of going up and down flights of stairs at the train station, carrying bicycles and shuttling children. We hustled and boarded our next train just in time without loosing any of the boys. Phew! Though our trip wasn’t a success, it taught me a few more tidbits about riding the train while making a new memory with my friend. “Hey Amy, remember that time that we took five boys, three bikes, one scooter and a push bike/stroller on the train?”
The following evening, our family hopped on the train to go to an Italian festival at the Dino Park. When we walked in, massive flower pots were filled with blooms of every color. The yellow daisies were my favorite. Gorgeous!
It was a perfect summer evening to enjoy the beauty of our surroundings, listen to music, eat Flammkuchen (flat bread pizza), and mingle amongst the locals.
Many families brought picnic baskets and ate a home cooked feast.
A few hours later, we caught the train back home.
The next morning, we boarded the train again for another adventure that I’ll write about in my next blog post. Riding a train still feels like such a novelty. Then again, so does getting to live in Europe!
